I have two major research interests. One is suprasegmental systems, that is, the way languages make use of pitch, duration, voice quality, and loudness. My research contributes to establishing what kinds of suprasegmental systems can be found in the languages of the world. In this context, I have found evidence that languages can (a) have both tone contrast and distinctive stress; (b) have three-level vowel length; and (c) use tonal alignment contrastively in contour tones. My second major interest is the description and documentation of Shilluk, a West Nilotic language spoken in South Sudan. Thanks to funding from the European Research Council, this is currently the main focus of my day-to-day work. The project webpage provides further information.

In my teaching, I build on my practice-based research expertise to pass on qualitative and quantitative skills to students, from prehons to postgraduate levels. In the 2026-2027 academic year, I will teach:

- Phonetics and Laboratory Phonology (Hons/MSc level, co-taught), especially the labs relating to scripting acoustic measurements

- LEL2B (prehonours) - the module on phonetics 

I am the ethics coordinator for the subject area of Linguistics & English Language. Admin roles I have done in the past include tutor coordinator and course organizer for LEL2D.

1997-2001       PhD in Linguistics (Leiden University)

1994-1996       Master of Arts in Linguistics (Leiden University)

1992-1994      First degree in Slavic Languages, with distinction